I am not sure you can read too much by immediate reaction. If the article amounts to an attack on beliefs they are vested in, then initial reactions can be strongly defensive (lawyer mode—defend a position), but a week of thinking about it can result in change. The positive sign there is coming back to you with more questions. (a shift to science mode—curiosity about truth).
I read an interesting book defending and explaining the truth of evolution written primarily for a Christian audience. The author explained the process whereby he changed from being 6-day creationist to conventional science position. It wasnt quick, it involved multiple arguments, and it also needed time for him to think without being pressured about it by evolutionists.
For most posts here (such as hiring posts), I do think the author can/should aim to a changed mind “immediately”, mainly because (1) it is possible and not too hard, and (2) not aiming for that can be an easy enough “excuse” to avoid admitting that the post failed at what it’s supposed to do. (Almost every post will get an encouraging review response of at least “nice post!”, so having that as a bar seems too low, I think).
I’ll add that another thing that influences my opinion is (3) I think lots of people fill their post with counter-arguments to arguments that nobody would really make and I think this really lowers posts’ quality.
For very hard posts such as “convince about evolution”—perhaps a goal of “change someone’s mind immediately” is too high, but I assume you’d still agree that doing user testing would be very valuable. (?)
I am not sure you can read too much by immediate reaction. If the article amounts to an attack on beliefs they are vested in, then initial reactions can be strongly defensive (lawyer mode—defend a position), but a week of thinking about it can result in change. The positive sign there is coming back to you with more questions. (a shift to science mode—curiosity about truth).
I read an interesting book defending and explaining the truth of evolution written primarily for a Christian audience. The author explained the process whereby he changed from being 6-day creationist to conventional science position. It wasnt quick, it involved multiple arguments, and it also needed time for him to think without being pressured about it by evolutionists.
I agree with everything
For most posts here (such as hiring posts), I do think the author can/should aim to a changed mind “immediately”, mainly because (1) it is possible and not too hard, and (2) not aiming for that can be an easy enough “excuse” to avoid admitting that the post failed at what it’s supposed to do. (Almost every post will get an encouraging review response of at least “nice post!”, so having that as a bar seems too low, I think).
I’ll add that another thing that influences my opinion is (3) I think lots of people fill their post with counter-arguments to arguments that nobody would really make and I think this really lowers posts’ quality.
For very hard posts such as “convince about evolution”—perhaps a goal of “change someone’s mind immediately” is too high, but I assume you’d still agree that doing user testing would be very valuable. (?)